The game was not yet over — it was the last of the seventh inning in a 3-1 victory over Washington at Nationals Park — but Dickey has rendered hitters so futile in recent days that any opportunity must be seized. With two men on and none out, Washington spotted an opening.

Two groundball outs later, the window closed. Dickey (9-1, 2.44 ERA) pumped his fist twice and pounded his glove, en route to another victory and another example of his mastery on the mound.

“I don’t ever consider myself a stopper of any kind,” Dickey said. “But I would consider myself a starter — a starter of a new streak. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into New York.
“We’ve got a pretty good guy going tomorrow.”

Against the Yankees, Johan Santana has two acts to follow. First, his own, that 134-pitch, no-hit masterpiece from last week, the one that pushed his start back two days. And second, he must follow Dickey, his mate at the top of this team’s rotation this season. The pair has buoyed the Mets (32-26) during the past few weeks.

Santana (3-2, 2.38 ERA) has been electric this season, dazzling in his return from anterior capsule surgery and a lost 2011 campaign. But Dickey has matched him outing-for-outing thus far.

Dickey spun another gem yesterday. He baffled Washington (32-23) with ease for much of the afternoon, striking out eight and giving up four hits. The late movement on his knuckleball continues to pester opponents. His command remains impeccable.

“He has the best command of the knuckleball of anybody I’ve seen,” manager Terry Collins said.

“It’s just so much different facing him, because he throws the knuckleball so hard,” Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “It seems like he can cut it, he can sink it. I don’t know if he is doing it on purpose. But it sure seems like he is. He throws so many strikes with it, it’s not like you’re going to wait him out.”

The offense perked up against Nationals starter Chien-Ming Wang in the fifth. With Kirk Nieuwenhuis at second, Wang fed Lucas Duda a fastball over the middle. Duda parked the pitch in the right-center seats. Two innings later, Daniel Murphy slapped an RBI single, part of a two-hit day that snapped an 0-for-19 string at the plate.

And that was all the aid Dickey needed. He cloaked himself in modesty afterward. He does not worry about being considered an ace. He dodged a question about his command of the pitch: “I’ll leave that up to you guys,” he said. “I just want to enjoy it.”

He insisted he does not worry about the streak.

“When I get out there,” he said, “the only streak I care about is getting that hitter at the plate out.”
And he downplayed the biannual spectacle of the upcoming series in the Bronx.

“I think we’re always measuring ourselves,” Dickey said. “Whether it’s the Nationals or the Yankees or the Rays.” He added, “As far as that being like, ‘Okay, if you beat the Yankees, you’ve arrived — and if you don’t, then you haven’t,’ that’s not how we operate.”